Gizmo and Stitch

The Adventures of Montgomery Mcvitty…..

gizmoandstitch — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:37:49 +0000

My Mr Sharp works very hard, very hard indeed! I wanted to give him a little something to make him smile; something he could have on his desk at work to cheer him up when it’s all getting a bit stressful. I pondered a while. “What does Mr Sharp like when he is feeling a bit overworked?” I wondered…..”Tea!” thought I. “And what is better than a mug of tea?” I asked myself….”Tea with biscuits!” I replied! I thought and thought of how I could combine the two to be a permanent fixture on his desk at work. And from my pondering, Montgomery McVitty was born.

Montgomery McVitty is no ordinary mug… oh no. Not only does he sport a well-groomed moustache and a distinguished gentleman’s monocle, Montgomery the mug has a mouth. “A mouth?” I hear you cry. “Yes, a mouth” says I. “But what use does a mug have for a mouth?” you ask. I agree, it’s quite obserd. But then again, it is actually a very useful thing for a mug to have. Our chap Monty simply looooves biscuits. He can’t get enough of them! When you fill his head with tea, biscuits are what he craves. So pop some tasty biscuits in his mouth and he will willingly share them with you whilst you sup tea from his brow.

"Nom!" says Monty as he stuffs biscuits in his mouth.

I do hope he will enjoy his new home at Mr Sharps office. I will be sending him a fresh supply of biscuits every Monday to see him through the working week. This week, Monty had Double Chocolate Chip Shortbread, and he decreed that he liked these very much. They really are truly delicious. So delicious in fact that the batch I made on Sunday to last all week had been devoured by Monday evening – oops! I’m now hurriedly baking another, much bigger batch to hopefully last Monty and Mr Sharp until Friday.

The recipe is very easy to make with just a handful of store cupboard ingredients. Here’s the recipe incase you fancy baking some too:

Ingredients

175g butter, softened
85g golden caster sugar
200g plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
100g chocolate chips (milk, white or dark)

Method

Mix the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon. Stir in the flour and cocoa, followed by the chocolate chips – you’ll probably need to mix it together with your hands at this stage. Halve the dough and roll each piece into a log about 5cm thick. Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hr or for several days. Can be frozen for up to 1 month.
Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Slice logs into 1cm-thick rounds, transfer to a baking tray lined with baking parchment and bake for 10-12 mins. Cool on the tray.

Shortbread is definitely one of my favourite types of biscuits to bake at home, but I always feel guilty eating them when I have seen just how much butter goes in to them. I wonder if there is such a thing as a healthy, low-fat biscuit that actually tastes good? If you have such a recipe, I’d love to hear from you!

While Monty’s face would cheer the most solemn of folk, he does look rather sad whilst bobbing around in the washing up liquid…. His happy little face suddenly looks a bit panicked. Fear not Monty my friend, we won’t let you drown, it’s merely bath time dear chap! You need to look smart for your first day at the office.

Hope you are all having a wonderful week so far folks TTFN! xx

Attention knitters! Battersea dog’s home needs you!

gizmoandstitch — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 20:01:25 +0000

Battersea dogs home in London is appealing to knitters everywhere to help them to knit comfort blankets for their foster dogs. Some of the dogs need to stay with foster carers as they have been through terrible ordeals and do not cope with life in kennels well. Others are recovering from illness, injury or operations and need that extra bit of TLC while they make a full recovery.

10 year old Marcel with his much loved blanket.

Battersea are appealing to those who can knit to help create security blankets for these poorly pooches, as they have been found to help them to feel safe and warm. They’re hoping to have enough blankets to put one in every doggy bag, which also include food, bedding and toys, and are given to foster carers when they look after a dog. When the dog is rehomed, they can then take their blanket with them to their new home. The blanket will help to offer them comfort and familiarity while they recover and adjust to their new environments.

The blanket pattern has been designed especially for Battersea by Lauren O’Farrell from whodunnit.com. She explains: “Most people had a special toy or blanket when they were young which they loved to bits. The plan is to make blankets which Battersea’s foster dogs can love just as much. It will be a woolly treat to put in their doggy bags, and they can take their blanket to their new home, so it will smell really familiar and be a handmade friend in a new place.” She has designed the blanket to be made in patchwork so that you can tackle it in manageable chunks, or even join up with fellow knitters to create a blanket together. If you would like to get involved you can download the knitting pattern here. Alternatively, you could come up with your own blanket design. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, it just has to be comfy and warm. For more information Battersea’s knitted blanket appeal or fostering opportunities, please visit their website.

So, who’s with me? Does anyone out there fancy joining forces to help create as many blankets as we can? Sometimes the thought of creating an entire knitted blanket can seem like a very daunting task, but if we all combined our efforts we could achieve something truly wonderful. Wether you would like to contribute one square or twenty, I’d like to hear from you. Let’s give this wonderful charity a helping hand and give those pooches something to love and find comfort in.

Finished blankets can be dropped off at any of their centres or can be posted to:

Dog blanket appeal

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home

4 Battersea Park Road

London

SW8 4AA

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Easter ……

gizmoandstitch — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:03:59 +0000

Here’s a sneaky little peak at whats been occurring in the sewing laboratory over here at Gizmo and Stitch Towers:

The sun is shining splendidly over London town, so it’s the perfect opportunity to sit on my balcony, soak up some rays, and do a little bit of hand sewing. I have discovered that I am very much a seasonal crafter; In the autumn and winter I knit, and in the spring and summer I sew. What with all the glorious weather we have been having over here in Blighty recently, I have cast aside my knitting needles, and picked up my sewing box again, and boy am I having fun! I often forget how much quicker it is to make something in fabric than it is to sit and knit it, so I have surprised myself with how many of these little rabbit finger puppets I have managed to whip up in just a couple of hours! They will make perfect little gifts for all the small folk that I know, and a wonderful alternative to chocolate – although I’m sure there will be lots of that being passed around too, it is Easter after all, the perfect excuse to a gorge yourself silly on ridiculous quantities of chocolate and end up feeling a little bit sick, yet very satisfied. Mmmm, chocolate….

Anywho, I digress. I found this wonderful little felt bunny finger puppet tutorial over on the extremely gorgeous blog The Purl Bee.

Image courtesy of The Purl Bee

The tutorial has fabulously clear step by step instructions to follow, and I can assure you that the bunnies are an absolute delight to make. You can find the tutorial by clicking here. I can’t wait to pop the finished little bunnies in to the post for all the gorgeous little children I am lucky enough to know for them to play with this Easter. I am even going to have a go at making my own eggs with a kit that a bought last Easter but sadly didn’t get enough time to use. Fear not Easter egg molds, for this Easter you will fulfill your Easter egg making destiny! Nom nom nom….. x

A wonderful mum

gizmoandstitch — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 11:15:35 +0000

Me and my mum, 1983

I am blessed to have a wonderful mum, and a wonderful mum is she. She raised me with patience and love, inspired me, taught me, encouraged me, mopped my brow when I was sick, held my hand when I was scared, wiped away my tears when I cried. She put up with me as a moody teenager and still loved me unconditionally. She made my world a beautiful place filled with the wonders of nature, imagination, books, art, theatre, museums, galleries, experiences and adventures. We have been through a lot together me and my mum, but we’ve been there for each other every step of the way, standing strong together. I don’t know what I would do without her.

I often forget to take the time to tell my mum just how much she means to me. So, this mothers day I decided to make it a little bit special. I cooked a special lunch, baked the very best treats, laid out the best china and put flowers on the table.

A real hit was the cheese and onion tart I made, mum even asked if she could have a copy of the recipe. I thought you guys might like a copy too, it’s so easy to make!

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

250g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
125g butter, cold and cubed
½ tsp salt

For the filling:

2 onions, sliced into rings
1 tbsp oil
2 eggs
284ml pot double cream
250g of any cheeses you like! - I used a third each goats cheese, cheddar and brie

Method:

Put the flour, butter and salt into the bowl of a food processor, then pulse until the mix looks like fine crumbs. Splash in 4 tbsp cold water, then pulse to a dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, shape into a smooth disc, then wrap and chill for at least 10 mins. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.
Roll pastry out on a floured surface until large enough to line a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Line the tin with the pastry, leaving any excess pastry overhanging. Line with baking paper, then fill with baking beans. Bake on a baking sheet for 15 mins. Take out the paper and beans, then bake for 10 mins more until pale golden and cooked.
While the pastry cooks, soften the onions in the oil over a medium heat for 10 mins until golden. Beat the eggs and cream together, then season to taste. Crumble up the hard cheeses and chop or pull the creamy cheese into small pieces. Scatter the cheese into the pastry case, add the onions, then pour in the egg mix. Turn the oven down to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3 and bake for 40 mins until set and lightly golden.
You can serve it warm, but I personally prefer to eat it once it’s been chilled in the fridge.

In keeping with my handmade pledge I made her a card using buttons from the button tin that has been passed down from my grandma, to my mother, and on to me.

Now that my mother has raised us kids and has taken retirement, she finds great joy in tending her garden, so I decided to buy her a cherry tree as a new addition for her little haven. Cherries are her favourite fruit, so I hope it will give her lots to eat!

It’s also my mum’s birthday tomorrow, so happy birthday mum, I hope you have a wonderful day and get spoilt rotten! You deserve it. xx

Ribbons and bows make the world a prettier place

gizmoandstitch — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:51:14 +0000

I love ribbon. For years I have squirreled away bits of ribbon in a little box, for you never know when it may come in handy. But alas, my little ribbon box is starting to overflow, and much of the ribbon is not fulfilling it’s ribbon destiny of making the world a prettier place by being kept prisoner in my box. I couldn’t keep it shut away in the dark any more, no, I felt so cruel. It’s time that I set some of that ribbon free, and help them to fulfill their dreams. So I pondered a while, and I hmmmm’ed and I ahhhh’ed, when suddenly I cried out ”bows!”. Of course! I would turn those unfulfilled bits of ribbons in to bows, for they too make the world a happier and prettier place.

Be Happy print by LouisestArt on Etsy

I shall make bow broches, bow hair clips, bows for presents, bows for christmas trees, bows for pups, bowties, bows for jewelry, bows for toys, bows for, well, just about anything. I found some fabulous tutorials out there in blog land to help me on my bow making quest, and I thought I would share them with you, just in case you get in the bow making mood too.

Zipper Bow Tutorial by Funny Rabbit

Zipper Bow Tutorial via Handmade by Funny Rabbit

Medallion Bow by Martha Stewart (Click next on the webpage for the tutorial)

Medallion Bow via Martha Stewart (click “next” to see the tutorial)

Felt Bow Tutorial by The Moonlit Nest

Felt Bow Tutorial via The Moonlit Nest

DIY Splendid hair bow by Momtastic

DIY Splendid Hair Bow Tutorial via Momtastic

Bow Ring Tutorial by Elisa Mclaughlin design's

Bow Ring Tutorial by Elisa Mclaughlin design’s

Bow Cuff Tutorial by I still Love You

Bow belt tutorial by Momtastic

DIY Bow Belt Tutorial via Momtastic

Toddler Bow Tie Tutorial by Say Yes To Hoboken

A good old fashioned letter

gizmoandstitch — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:00:33 +0000

It seems that these days my letter box’s diet mostly consists of junk mail. Yuck. I can almost hear it sigh with disappointment each morning after the postman has done his rounds. But, every now and again, something wonderful happens. I open up the lowly letter box expecting the usual unwanted rubbish to find a hand written envelope addressed to me! It makes my letter box very happy, and I get a little flutter in my heart and an excited feeling in my tummy.

Image by Dancing With Dandelionsss

You just don’t get that same feeling of excitement from an email, and sadly these days I get far more of those than I do handwritten cards or letters, and this makes me and my letterbox sad. I love the internet, but I despise how impersonal it can be. So, this year, I pledge to write more letters and cards to my friends and family in the hope that I can give them that same little buzz of excitement that I get when I receive proper post instead of the usual junk. I want to revive the joy that a letter can bring, a dying art in a modern technology driven world.

A beautiful letter writing set by Papelidades

What better way to start my new letter writing project than with some brand new, very cute letter writing stationary! I absolutely love, love, love stationary! In fact, I have a little bit of an unhealthy obsession with it… anywho, thanks to some very talented, generous and wonderful people out there in blogland, you can download an arrary of different letter writing kits and note cards for absolutely free. Thats right, FREE! I love free, it’s my favoruite price because I am a poor and lowly student. You can download the above letter writng set, courtesy of Papelides, for free, by clicking here.

Another wonderful free letter set from Papalidades

You can get this one, also by Papelidades by clicking here.

Free printable Thank You letters courtesy of How About Oange

These gorgeous brightly coloured thank you letters are available for free from How About Orange by clicking here.

A fabulous free note card and envelope set courtesy of Eat Drink Chic

And lastly this whimsical greeting card set is available to download for free thanks to Eat Drink Chic by clicking here.

I can’t wait to get started! My first letter will be to my cousin Natasha to accept her wedding invitation. I will also write to my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Laura. She lives so far away that it makes me want to cry. I miss her oodles! We used to send each other funny little letters in the post all the time back when we first finished university, but life tends to get stupidly busy around that time too, and so the letters fell by the way side as we simply didn’t have enough hours in the day. But, I am going to make time. I will write in lunch breaks, whilst on the train, waiting at the Doctors surgery, sitting in front of the TV, wherever there is a few spare minutes to jot something down, even if it’s just a few words. Lets revive the handwritten letter people, it brings such joy and can make a persons day Have fun! xx

Things I made last year

gizmoandstitch — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:44:11 +0000

What with all the crazy-can’t-keep-up-stupidly-busy-ness that I encountered back in January, I completely forgot to post pictures of some of the gifts I made for people as part of my Handmade Christmas Pledge! Oops! Here is a selection of some of them:

A knitted wolf for Josephine

A knitted cat for Kayleigh. She called it Amy Cat! Aww!

A cowl for Jackie

A stocking for the cat.... ahem....

I foolishly forgot to take photographs of some of the gifts I made as I was in such an excited hurry to wrap them and put them under people’s trees! Must remember to take more photos. I absolutely loved taking and sticking to the handmade pledge; sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea and my balls of wool beats going out in the cold and battling the crazy crowds at the shops. I will definitely do it all again next Christmas, can’t wait xx

After a brief interlude….

gizmoandstitch — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:27:32 +0000

….normal service is to be resumed! Huzzah!

It’s been such a long time since my last post, I’m so sorry folks! Life had gotten just a smidge too busy after the yuletide season, and I was struggling to keep up! What with writing copious amounts of essays and completing projects for uni, working extra shifts in the evenings, and having a birthday (my birthday very rudely and inconsiderately interrupted me being in my 20′s, a decade a thoroughly enjoyed, and has now pushed me somewhat reluctantly in to my 30′s even though I kindly asked it not to, hurrumph!), my head has been in a bit of a spin and my mojo got a little lost My usually smiley face was replaced by a frowney, somewhat serious and at times pouty face. I don’t like essays, and I don’t like getting older, but after being a good girl and getting all my work done, my smile has pounced back on my face and kicked the frowney face clean off, yay!

Such a smiley soft drink lid

I found this little happy face peering up at me from Mr Sharps soft drink lid this morning, and it made me smile. It just looks so very happy! I felt quite mean when I had to put it in the bin….

My thoughts tend to go to sleep unless they and I wonder, and wonder they did thanks to my beloved Mr Sharp; for my birthday he whisked me away on a wonderful surprise holiday to Amsterdam for 5 glorious days of debaucherous giggle filled bliss to celebrate my 3rd decade of being. We had a most splendid time, a much needed holiday for us both. I have come back feeling revived and inspired. I love Amsterdam, it’s such a beautiful city.

Now that my Handmade Christmas has come to an end, I need a new project, and thanks to my favorite ever website, Ravelry, I have found one. Over the next few weeks, any free time that I have will be spent on making these little fellows:

Photo by Rachel Borello Carroll at Petite Purls.

Aren’t they just adorable? The pattern for these delightful little creatures, known as ”Anything Animals” is available for free at Petite Purls. I plan on making a whole menagerie of different animals to give to the little people that I’m blessed to have in my life.

Photo by Rachel Borello Carroll at Petite Purls.

Off to my wool stash I go! It will be an excellent project for using up all my little scraps of left over wool. Excited much? Er, yes! Muchly! Happy knitting folks! xx

Happy new year!

gizmoandstitch — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 15:47:11 +0000

Happy new year one and all! (Sorry that this post is a little late…..) Wishing you all a fabulous 2012 filled with lots of love, laughter and happiness! I hope you enjoyed the celebrations and didn’t feel too worse for wear the next day…. I know we did

London's NYE fireworks

Ooooo, ahhhhh, pretty!

sooooo sparkly!

On new years eve, Mr Sharp and I guzzled copious amounts of champagne and had an epic NYE Risk battle. Sadly, the ruthless Mr Sharp royally whooped my sorry buttocks yet again…. Curse you Mr Sharp and your quest for world domination! *waves fist angrily in the air*

My little red fellows got severly annihalated....

I’ll get you next time Mr Sharp, you mark my words! Mu ha ha ha ha!

At midnight we stood by the river Thames and watched the fireworks erupt over the city. Twas quite magical! As a few sky lanterns took flight from a nearby balcony, Mr Sharp and I challenged each other to think of three goals we would each like to achieve in 2012. After much, ummming and ahhhhing our list was complete.

My goals for 2012:

1. Learn to crochet: In 2010 I taught myself to knit by watching instructional videos on youtube. Now, I want to tackle learning to Crochet….

My much loved nanny king tried to teach me to crochet when I was a little girl, but I ended up getting so frustrated that I threw the crochet hook across the room, stomped my little feet, and solemnly vowed to never to try it again because it was simply too hard! This time, instead if foot stomping, there will probably be little swearing, but by jove I shall learn to crochet by the end of the year (I won’t promise that I will be any good at it though).

2. I want to start a vintage inspired children’s clothing range:

Now that I am in the process of training for my dream career of becoming a costumer, I want to start a little side project of making children’s clothes and starting a little online store to help fund my studies. I bought myself a pattern cutting book for children’s clothes as a little christmas present to me. All I need to do now is start drawing up the designs and source the fabric! Eeeep! It’s all very exciting. I also need to think of a name for this venture, I’d appreciate any suggestions!

3. I want to visit Scotland: I can’t believe that in all my 30 years, I have never been there, even though it’s practically on our doorstep! I hang my head in shame….

Mr Sharps goals for 2012:

1. Become a dive master: My beloved Mr Sharp is a very accomplished SCUBA diver. He already holds numerous qualifications in the sport, and last year he qualified as a rescue diver (I’m so very proud! It’s like having my very own aquatic superhero!). This year however, he wants to become a qualified dive master, the highest level of certification a diver can have when training with PADI.

2. Take more photographs: Mr Sharp is an excellent photographer, but we realised that last year we were very slack at remembering to take the camera out with us whilst out and about. The camera has now been removed from its bag in the wardrobe, and has been left out by the T.V. in the lounge, ready to grab at a moments notice and capture those special moments of our adventures together, like this one:

Our first photo of 2012

Our first photo of 2012, taken a few minutes after midnight on the 1st of January.

3. Take me to Scotland: After I confessed shamefully that I had never ventured north to Scotland, my adorable Mr Sharp vowed to take me there as one of his goals for 2012. I have to be the luckiest lady in the world to have landed myself such a wonderful man.

Happy new year folks! I hope each and every one of you have a fabulous year. Here’s to 2012, its gunna be a goodun! xxx

His and hers Christmas stockings

gizmoandstitch — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:08:39 +0000

When I was a littl’un, one of the best things about Christmas morning was waking up to find a stocking filled by Santa at the end of the bed. I would get caught up in the magical belief that Santa had been in my bedroom that night, that he’d managed to sneak in again without getting caught. Every Christmas eve I would go to bed hoping that I would wake when Santa snuck into my room, but I never did. I’d wave my little fist in the air and promise that “next year I will stay awake to meet you Santa!”, but I never could.

I’d heave my bulging stocking up on to my lap and pull out each little gift, one by one, with great excitement and a huge grin planted firmly on my face. Once they were all pulled out, inspected and played with, I would hurriedly shove them all back inside the stocking and run to my parents room, bounce on the bed shouting excitedly to wake them up, then sit there pulling each gift out again, one by one, to show my mum and dad while they made the appropriate “ooo’s” and “ahhhh’s” in half asleep state.

My wonderful mum has always hung a stocking at the end of my bed on Christmas eve, every year for the past 28 years , because I have spent every Christmas at the family homestead (although the bouncing and shouting and bundling in to bed with them the next morning had to come to a stop for I was getting too big, sob!). But this year, now that I’m a growed up and living with the amazing Mr Sharp, the responsibility of hanging the stockings on Christmas eve has fallen to me. I was excited by the prospect, until I realised that there were no stockings to hang! I summoned the help of my knitting needles and balls of wool and set about rectifying the worrying stockingless scenario.

Clickety clickety went the knitting needles with great urgency, and ta dah! As if by magic, two little stockings, one his, one hers, were birthed:

These little lovelies are knitted flat (my favourite way to knit) so they were a pleasure to make. The pattern is a doddle to follow too. I used this pattern to guide me, but used my own colour schemes and pattern sequences to give them more of a personal touch. If you would like to know how I made mine drop me a line and I will send you some instructions. They only took me a couple of evenings each to make, so if you fancy making some you still have time! They would make a lovely gift for someone.

I couldn’t wait until Christmas eve to hang our lovely new stockings up, so they are already taking pride of place in our lounge, hanging high enough that they don’t suffer a CATTACK(!) from our little kitten. I’m sure she would have hours of fun destroying them if she could only get her claws into the wool. Well not this year little kitty! Although, I cannot wait to see what havoc she unleashes on the Christmas tree when we hang it this weekend…..

Only 9 more days till Chrimbo people, eeeeep! So excited! xx